Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon (25) runs down the sideline against the Auburn Tigers in the second quarter of the 2017 Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.(Photo: Chuck Cook, USA TODAY Sports)

It was going to take one of two types of teams to draft Joe Mixon: a franchise whose owner, general manager and coach have enough capital to withstand the inevitable wave of backlash, or one that just doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

The Cincinnati Bengals fit the latter description as well as anybody, which made them a natural fit to make a pick that’s going to be scrutinized as heavily as any in the 2017 NFL draft – particularly if Mixon has even a whiff of trouble again.

The crowd at the draft in Philadelphia booed. ESPN’s broadcast quickly cut to the brutal video of Mixon breaking a woman’s jaw and cheekbone with a punch during an altercation 2½ years ago before showing any of his highlights at the University of Oklahoma. Mixon’s introductory news conference, the Bengals’ rookie minicamp next weekend and plenty of other events this offseason are sure to be dotted with questions about him and that tape from 2014.

And that just doesn’t seem likely to bother Bengals owner Mike Brown.

His track record of taking on players other teams reject for character reasons is unparalleled in the NFL. Just last month, in discussing the decision to stand by cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones after his latest arrest, Brown acknowledged that “maybe I am overly tolerant. If so, so be it.”

Mixon was getting drafted, one way or another. Horrible as the video is, the word NFL teams got out of Oklahoma about Mixon was positive overall. He was the heartbeat of the Sooners’ team. Scouts did extensive background work, not only speaking to people in the football program, but also women who work in athletic training and academic support.

On his football tape alone, some scouts regarded Mixon as a top-15 talent. When the other tape was released by his attorney in December, there were doubts Mixon would be drafted at all. But the more teams dug into his background, the more there was a growing sense by last month’s scouting combine that Mixon wouldn’t stay on the board beyond the second or third round.

The biggest red flag since the 2014 incident was a confrontation with a parking lot attendant that got Mixon suspended for one game last year. Mixon told teams he didn’t have an anger management issue, but some wondered: Can he really control himself now? And does he fully understand the microscope he’s under?

In many NFL cities, Mixon would be on a zero-tolerance plan: one incident and he’s gone before the uproar can hit full blast. Yet even that’s not a given in Cincinnati.

Brown gives second chances and third chances and sometimes more. He surely hopes Mixon doesn’t need that. But because of how their owner operates, the Bengals are uniquely impervious to the public fallout that made plenty of other NFL teams decide before the draft began that sticking their necks out for Mixon just wasn’t worth it.